Running head: AGNS: SEYFERT GALAXIES

Active Galactic Nuclei:

A Basic Comprehension of Seyfert Galaxies
Stevie Nay
PHYS 1040
M/W/F 8AM

AGNS: SEYFERT GALAXIES

Seyfert galaxies are one of several types of galaxies with a known active galactic nucleus,
or AGN, which is a term that refers to a supermassive black hole with an abundant accretion disk
of material, resulting in extreme emission lines perpendicular to the galactic torus, or plane. But
a simple definition leaves a lot of questions unanswered. For instance: How did we discover
them? How do they form, and what powers them? Are they all the same? What could they
possibly tell us about the universe?
As far back as 1908, Seyfert galaxies were being misclassified as something coined
spiral nebulae, believed to be a dense and unusual cluster of material that exhibited a bright
spiral effectbut, still assumed to be within our own Milky Way galaxy.[1] It wasnt until 1926
that Edwin Hubble further examined one of these documented nebulae due to their enigmatic
nature, and identified them instead as extragalactic objects.[2] However, Seyfert galaxies are
named after the astronomer who later confirmed Hubbles theory in 1948 using a technique
called interferometry, which superimposes the different aspects of two or more separate
telescopes in order to acquire a higher resolution of a distant object.[3]
So just what makes these galaxies so luminous in respect to other normal galaxies? The
answer lies at their very core: A supermassive black hole.[4] While our own Milky Way also has a
supermassive black hole in its center, also known as Sagittarius A*, it is significantly smaller
than those found in Seyfert galaxies.[5] The mass of Sagittarius A* is estimated to be
approximately 4 million times the mass of the Sun; however, the mass of a supermassive black
hole in a Seyfert galaxy is estimated to be somewhere between 107 and 108 solar masses, or 10
million to 100 million times the mass of the Sun.[5,6] However, because light cant escape the

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immense gravitational pull of even the smallest black hole, the luminosity itself is believed to
emanate from the dense material immediately surrounding it: the accretion disk, which also
produces very strong, highly-ionized emission lines identifiable spectroscopically.[7,8]
Initially, Seyfert galaxies were classified into two groups, Type 1 or Type 2, which was
dependent on their spectral readings. According to B.M. Petersons An Introduction to Active
Galactic Nuclei, Type 1 Seyfert galaxies have two sets of emission lines, superposed on one
another. One set of lines is characteristic of a low-density ionized gas with widths corresponding
to velocities of several hundred kilometers per second, and are referred to as the narrow lines.
A second set of broad lines are also seen, but in the permitted lines only the absence of
broad forbidden-line emission indicates that the broad-line gas is of high density so the nonelectric-dipole transitions are collisionally suppressed. He goes on to say that, Type 2 Seyfert
galaxies differ from Seyfert 1 galaxies in that only the narrow lines are present in Type 2
spectra.[9] However, in 1981, subclasses 1.5, 1.8, and 1.9 were introduced based purely on the
appearance of the optical spectrum, with numerically larger subclasses having weaker broad-line
components relative to the narrow lines. In other words, Seyfert Type 1 galaxies include both
broad and narrow emission lines, strong UV and X-ray emission, whereas Seyfert Type 2
galaxies include narrow emission lines and weak UV and X-ray emissions, but strong IR [InfraRed] emission. [10]
Learning anything and everything about the Universe can be rather difficult, not only due
to its seemingly infinite size and the vast amounts of space between even the nearest of objects,
but also because of the rate at which it continues to expand. However, observing active galaxies

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can actually help astronomers estimate just how old the known Universal horizon is. While
determining the exact moment at which the Big Bang actually took place is still theoretical, the
majority of active galaxies are some of the most distant objects we can detect. Using the Doppler
shift technique, these particular types of galaxies register on the highest scale of redshifts,
suggesting that they are accelerating away from us at unfathomable speeds, but also suggesting
that they were the earliest to form after the Big Bang.[11] However, because the speed of light has
a finite speed, we are able to deduce that some of them are as far as 12 billion lightyears away.
This is further supported by the fact that nearby active galaxies are basically nonexistent, with
the exception due to the gravitation of galactic clusters.[12]
In conclusion, while there are multiple types of active galactic nucleus galaxies, they are
indisputably important in science and the observations that they alone can provide. And, even
though we still have far more questions than we have answers to, without the discovery and
inevitable scientific conclusions of these magnificent phenomenons, the questions we do have
are more specific and will (hopefully) continue to do so.

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References:
1. "Introduction to active galaxies". OpenLearn. The Open University. Retrieved December
9, 2013.
2. Hubble, Edwin P. (1926). "Extragalactic nebulae". The Astrophysical Journal. 64: 321
369. Bibcode:1926ApJ....64..321H. doi:10.1086/143018.
3. Hanbury Brown, R.; Jennison, R. C.; Das Gupta, M. K. (1952). Apparent Angular Sizes
of Discrete Radio Sources: Observations at Jodrell Bank,
Manchester. Nature. 170 (4338): 10611063. Bibcode:1952Natur.170.1061H. doi:10.1038/1701061a0.
4. Davidsen, Arthur F. (1993). "Far-Ultraviolet Astronomy on the Astro-1 Space Shuttle
Mission". Science. 259 (5093): 327
334. Bibcode:1993Sci...259..327D. doi:10.1126/science.259.5093.327. PMID 17832344.
5. Supermassive Black Hole Sagittarius A*. (2013, August 29). Retrieved from
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/black-hole-SagittariusA.html
6. Relationship Between Black Hole Growth and Star Formation in Seyfert Galaxies. (2012,
February 5). Retrieved from http://scitechdaily.com/relationship-between-black-holegrowth-and-star-formation-in-seyfert-galaxies/
7. Osterbrock, Donald E.; Ferland, Gary J. (2006). Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and
Active Galactic Nuclei. Sausalito, CA: University Science Books. ISBN 978-1-89138934-4.
8. Petrov, G.T. (2004). Active Galactic Nuclei. Retrieved from
http://www.astro.bas.bg/~petrov/galaxies_files/agn.html
9. Peterson, B.M. (1997). Seyfert Galaxies. Retrieved from
https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Glossary/Essay_seyfert.html

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10. Cosmology Galaxies. (Date Unknown). Retrieved from
http://astronomyonline.org/Cosmology/Galaxies.asp#Seyfert_galaxies
11. "Active Galaxies and Quasars". NASA/GSFC. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
12. "Quasars". Astronomy 162 Lecture Notes. University of Tennessee, Department of
Physics & Astronomy. Retrieved November, 21 2013.